


First Date

by wishingonly (wendlaswound)



Category: Frühlings Erwachen | Spring Awakening - Frank Wedekind, Spring Awakening - Sheik/Sater
Genre: First Date, Fluff, I just have a whole bunch of random Hernst fics that I never posted, M/M, Pining, idk either
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-07
Updated: 2018-04-07
Packaged: 2019-04-19 17:36:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,193
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14242383
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wendlaswound/pseuds/wishingonly
Summary: It's The Night, and Hanschen is shaking in his sparkly studded boots. Tonight is his and Ernst's first date. Just... Ernst might not know about it.





	First Date

It was _the night_.

Oh, god, it was the night, and Hanschen’s hands were shaking and he couldn’t get them to stop. They had nothing to do but fiddle with his tie, because everything else that night was quite literally out of his hands. Although he had planned it that way. He always managed to screw up the things he cared about. Better that he was more or less uninvolved.

Ilse would come through. She always did. She had to.

Because this could be the best night of Hanschen’s life.

Or the worst.

He’d made the plan. He now had to hope it would all work out how he hoped.  
Ilse wouldn’t betray him, would d she? He’d put pretty much his whole future with Ernst in her hands. Hanschen didn’t know Ilse that well; she had always been closer to Moritz and Wendla. But she had been nice to Ernst, and Ernst trusted her. Hanschen thought it would work out. And he hadn’t known who else to ask. He would have been too embarrassed with anyone else.

Now, wringing his hands and pacing on the grass, he wasn’t so sure of himself.

Everything he had done played back in his mind, and absolutely everything seemed wrong. He was too overdressed. This was too over the top. Too informal. Too formal. Too uncomfortable. Too basic. It was a dumb, dumb idea, because his dumber feelings had gotten in the way.

But the only person who had ever made him feel his dumb feelings was Ernst. So it was worth it, wasn’t it?

He didn’t know, and it was too late to go back. He was stuck. He had a bad habit of doing that to himself.

Hanschen jumped when his phone buzzed in his pants pocket. It was Ilse, who had merely said “OOW.”

He hoped it was “on our way”, and not that either of them had been injured. That would put a damper on the night.

Then there was a follow-up. “He looks DASHING btw.”

Hanschen felt his heart squeeze up in his chest, unpleasant and cold and absolutely terrified.

Hanschen couldn’t remember the last time he had been terrified.

The wait for them to arrive was too long and too short, and they pulled up at the one moment Hanschen wasn’t looking. When he finally noticed the headlights, he panicked and nearly fell on his face. Thankfully, he caught himself after stumbling to his feet.

He smoothed his jacket and plastered on his most dazzling smile. A poor attempt to mask his anxiety, but an attempt nonetheless.

An attempt that failed horrifically when he saw Ernst.

Ilse had done _good_. So good, that Hanschen felt bad for ever doubting her.

The jacket and pants Ernst wore were slim and mauve, slightly reflective but altogether sleek. It matched his thin frame to close for comfort. There was a patch of flowers sown over the pocket. Ilse had managed to tame the flop of dark hair that Ernst refused to touch.

Goddammit.

Hanschen’s smile fell away along with all of his senses, except the one that was constantly screaming “AHHGSGDLLDKFFFSH” in his head.

“Uh, hi,” he managed with some kind of divine intervention. Ernst smiled, his eyes a bit squinted and his gate unsure. God, he was adorable.

“Hi, uhm, do you know what’s going on, ‘cuz-“ Ernst started to ask, and Hanschen started to panic. And almost as if she could read his mind, Ilse cut Ernst off.

“Well, I’ll head out and leave y’all to it.” She hopped back in her van and took off, just like that.

Once she was gone, so was Hanschen’s relief.

“What’s all this?” Ernst asked, gesturing to the flowers and lights Hanschen had laid on the sidewalk. No one was out in this park at this hour, which is precisely why Hanschen had chosen it for his love-profession scenery. According to his mother, he had streaked here when he was three. So why not make more memories, ones that involved getting naked, or not. He was up for either.

“This? Oh, uh,” Hanschen began smoothly. He would have kicked himself if he wouldn’t have looked even more stupid.

“Well, I was taking you out.”

“...what?”

“A... date?”

“A date?”

“Yes?”

“Right now, you’re taking me out on a date that you never asked me out on?”

And that’s when Hanschen knew that he had REALLY made a dumb plan.

“Um, I suppose that’s what it looks like...” Hanschen, since he couldn’t make any more dumb choices, glanced at Ernst’s face. It was flushed pink, and his chin was tilted, hiding a smile.

Maybe there was an opportunity for recovery. Hanschen grasped it readily.

“But that’s only because I didn’t want you to say no.”

“… I don’t know if that is sweet, or incredibly rude and inconsiderate.”

Well, shit.

“I was just, I mean, I… you know that, ahg. Can I just… maybe-“ and then Hanschen really gave up. He had officially enacted the worst plan in the entire universe. He covered his face and sat back on the bench. “Well, fuck.”

“Wait, wait, hold on. Let’s back up,” Ernst said, sitting next to him. “We’re on a date. Ok.”

“…Okay?”

“Yeah.”

Hanschen breathed a single sigh of relief. “Maybe okay will be our ‘I’m sorry I was too chicken to actually ask you out.’”

Ernst laughed. He _laughed._ His cheeks had already been flushed pink, but now with that smile, Hanschen felt his face go hot.

“I really am sorry. I just…”

“You’re not good expressing your feelings?”

“Yeah. And I didn’t know how to… uh….”

“Ask me without sounding vulnerable or desperate?”

“Exactly!”

Ernst smiled softly, looking away for a few, long moments before turning back to Hanschen.

“You know, you could have just told me?”

“Told you what?”

“How you feel. About me.”

“Oh. Uh… well. I don’t really know how I feel. Because I’ve never ever felt this way before. Ever. I’ve never wanted to make an incredibly stupid plan to more or less kidnap someone into a date. In all fairness, Ilse did go along with it.”

“True, very true. Though in all honesty, romantics aren’t Ilse’s strong suit, either.”

“Are you saying I’m not romantic?”

“I’m saying you've got a little ways to go.”

It was dark enough now that the stars were out. Hanschen wasn’t looking at them.

“If I had asked you out like a normal person, what would you have said?”

Ernst pouted, as if he was actually thinking about it.

Turns out, he wouldn’t have said anything.

And all of Hanschen’s icy fear melted away when Ernst’s lips touched his. The night air had no chill, the stars were merely half-finished sketches in a hidden book that the artist had forgotten about.

Despite the previous awkwardness, Ernst insisted they go along with the date.

Hanschen might have lied when he said that he was only going to take Ernst out for ice cream, but instead of a frivolous adventure through the city, they simply stopped in at the little shop where Martha and Wendla worked during the summer.

Chocolate syrup had never tasted so good.


End file.
